Reblogged from A Ruby In The Rough….Lying lips are devastating. God calls a lie an act of hatred against the one lied to. And it is, as the heart that has been bludgeoned by the lie can attest to. If you consider yourself to be a Christian, but yet you continue to lie, you can be assured that you have never been reborn. Satan is the father of all lies. God is Truth. God says that all liars are of their father the devil. You do the math. And please stop professing a Christ you know nothing of with those lying lips of yours. That is also blasphemous. It is not too late to pray that God grants you genuine repentance and total surrender to the biblical Jesus Christ as Lord. Why wait? You will just give yourself more time to lie to yourself, and the more you do, the more you are taken over by the lies, the Devil, and are dooming yourself to eternal Hell. And only your evil father the Devil wants you there. Hasn’t he gotten enough of you yet?~AGM†

“14Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.16“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”…”~Revelation 22:14-16

The tongue which at first was made to be an organ of God’s praise—has now become an instrument of unrighteousness. This commandment binds the tongue to its good behavior. God has set two natural fences to keep in the tongue—the teeth and lips; and this commandment is a third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil. It has a prohibitory and a mandatory part: the first is set down in plain words, the other is clearly implied.

I. The prohibitory part of the commandment, or, what it forbids in general. It forbids anything which may tend to the disparagement or harm of our neighbor. More particularly, two things are forbidden in this commandment.

[1] SLANDER. This is a sin against the ninth commandment. The scorpion carries his poison in his tail; the slanderer carries his poison in his tongue. Slandering “is to report things of others unjustly.” “Malicious witnesses testify against me. They accuse me of things I don’t even know about.” Psalm 35:11. Many a Christian is beheaded of his good name. They raised for a slander of Paul, that he preached “Men might do evil that good might come of it.” “We be slanderously reported; and some affirm that we say, “Let us do evil, that good may come”.” Rom 3:8. Eminence is commonly blasted by slander.Holiness itself is no shield from slander. The lamb’s innocence will not preserve it from the wolf. Christ, the most innocent upon earth, was reported to be “A glutton and a drunkard.” Matthew 11:19. John the Baptist was a man of a holy and austere life, and yet they said of him, “He has a devil.” Matt 11:18.

The Scripture calls slandering, smiting with the tongue. “Come, and let us smite him with the tongue.” Jer 18:18. You may smite another—and never touch him. “The tongue inflicts greater wounds than the sword.” Augustine. No physician can heal the wounds of the tongue! To pretend friendship to a man, and slander him, is most odious.

As it is a sin against this commandment to raise a false report of another, so it is to receive a false report before we have examined it. “Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.” Psalm 15:1-3. We must not only not raise a false report—but refuse to hear it. He who raises a slander—carries the devil in his tongue! He who receives a slander—carries the devil in his ear!

[2] LYING. Here three sins are condemned:

(1) Speaking that which is false.

(2) Witnessing to that which is false.

(3) Swearing to that which is false.

(1) That which is condemned in the commandment is, SPEAKING that which is false. “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord.” Proverbs 12:22. To lie is to speak that which one knows to be an untruth. There is nothing more contrary to God—than a lie. The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of Truth.” 1 John 4:6.

Lying is a sin which does not go alone; it ushers in other sins. Absalom told his father a lie, when he said that he was going to pay his vow at Hebron, and this was a preface to his treason. 2 Sam 15:7. Where there is a lie in the tongue, the devil is in the heart. “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie?” Acts 5:3. Lying is a sin which unfits men for civil society. How can you converse or bargain with a man, when you cannot trust a word he says? This sin highly provokes God. Ananias and Sapphire were struck dead for telling a lie. Acts 5:5. The furnace of hell is heated for liars. “Outside are sorcerers, and whoever loves and makes a lie.” Rev 22:15. O abhor this sin! “Consider your every word an oath.” Jerome. When you speak, let your word be as authentic as your oath. Imitate God, who is the pattern of truth. Pythagoras being asked what made men like God, answered, “when they speak the truth.” The character of a man who shall go to heaven, is that “he speaks the truth in his heart.” Psalm 15:2.

(2) That which is condemned in the commandment is, WITNESSING that which is false. “You shall not bear false witness.” There is a twofold bearing false witness:

1. Bearing false witness for another; as when we give our testimony for a person who is criminal and guilty, and we justify him as if he were innocent. “Who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.” Isa 5:23. He who seeks to acquit a wicked man—makes himself unjust.

2. It is bearing false witness against another, when we accuse him in open court falsely. This is to imitate the devil, who is the “accuser of the brethren.” Though the devil is no adulterer—yet he is a false witness. Solomon says, “Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow—is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor.” Proverbs 25:18. In his face he is hardened like a club—he cannot blush, he cares not what lie he witnesses to. And he is a sword—his tongue is a sword to wound the person he witnesses against in his goods or life. “Then two scoundrels accused him before all the people of cursing God and the king. So he was dragged outside the city and stoned to death.” 1 Kings 21:13. The queen of Persia being sick, the magicians accused two godly virgins of having by charms procured the queen’s sickness; whereupon she caused those virgins to be sawn asunder.

A false witness perverts all justice. He corrupts the judge by making him pronounce a wrong sentence, and causes the innocent to suffer. Vengeance will find out the false witness. “A false witness shall not be unpunished.” Proverbs 19:5. “The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother—then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you.” Deut 19:18, 19. If, for instance, he was trying to have the innocent person put to death—his own life shall be taken away.

(3) That which is condemned in the commandment is, SWEARING to what is false; as when men take a false oath, and by that take away the life of another. “Love no false oath.” Zech 8:17. The Scythians made a law that when a man bound together a lie with an oath, he was to lose his head; because these sins took away all truth and faith from among men. The devil has taken great possession of those who dare swear to a lie.

Use one. For REPROOF.

(1) The church of Rome is reproved—which approves of a lie, or a false oath—if it promotes the Catholic cause. It approves of anofficious lie; and holds some sins to be lawful. God has no need of our lie. It is not lawful to tell a lie, “for the glory of God”—even if we were sure to bring glory to God by it, as Augustine speaks.

(2) They are reproved—who make no conscience of slandering others. “You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother’s son.” Psalm 50:20. Paul was slandered as a mover of sedition, and the head of a faction. Acts 24:5. The same word signifies both a slanderer and a devil. 1 Tim 3:11. “Not slanderers;” in the Greek, “not devils.” Some think it is no great matter, to misrepresent and slander others; but it is to act the part of a devil. Clipping a man’s credit, to make it weigh lighter, is worse than clipping coin. The slanderer wounds three at once: he wounds him who is slandered; he wounds him to whom he reports the slander, by causing uncharitable thoughts to arise up in his mind against the party slandered; and he wounds his own soul, by reporting of another what is false. This is a great sin; and I wish I could say it is not common.

You may kill a man in his name as well as in his person. Some are reluctant to take away their neighbor’s goods—conscience would fly in their face; but better take away their corn out of their field, their wares out of their shop—than take away their good name! This is a sin for which no reparation can be made; a blot in a man’s name, being like a blot on white paper, which will never be gotten out. Surely God will punish this sin. If idle words shall be accounted for, shall not unjust slanders? The Lord will make inquisition one day, as well for names, as for blood. Oh therefore take heed of this sin! Was it not a sin under the law to defame a virgin? Deut 22:19. And is it not a greater sin to defame a saint, who is a member of Christ?

The heathen, by the light of nature, abhorred the sin of slandering. Diogenes used to say, “Of all wild beasts, a slanderer is the worst.” Antonius made a law, that, if a person could not prove the crime he reported another to be guilty of, he should be put to death.

(3) They are reproved who are so wicked as to bear false witnessagainst others. These are monsters in nature, unfit to live in a civil society. Eusebius relates of one Narcissus, a man famous for piety, who was accused by two false witnesses of unchastity. To prove their accusations, they endeavored to confirm it with oaths and curses. One said, “If I speak not true, I pray God I may perish by fire!” The other said, “If I speak not true, I wish I may be deprived of my sight.” It pleased God that the first witness who forswore himself should be burned in the flames, his house being set on fire. The other being troubled in conscience, confessed his perjury, and continued to weep so long that he wept himself blind. Jezebel, who suborned two false witnesses against Naboth, was thrown down from a window and “the dogs licked up her blood.” 2 Kings 9:33. Oh, tremble at this sin! A perjured person is the devil’s excrement. He is cursed in his name, and seared in his conscience. Hell gapes for such a windfall.

Use two. For EXHORTATION.

(1) Let all take heed of breaking this commandment, by lying, slandering, and bearing false witness. To avoid these sins get the fear of God. Why does David say, “The fear of the Lord is clean”? Psalm 19:9. Because it cleanses the heart from malice, and the tongue from slander. “The fear of the Lord is clean:” it is to the soul as lightning to the air, which cleanses it.

Get love to your neighbor. Lev 19:18. If we love a friend, we shall not speak or attest anything to his harm. Men’s minds are cankered with envy and hatred; hence come slandering and false witnessing. Love is a lovely grace; love “thinks no evil.” 1 Cor 13:5. It puts the best interpretation upon another’s words. Love is a well-wisher, and it is reluctant to speak ill of him, whom we wish well to. Love is that which cements Christians together; it is the healer of division, and the hinderer of slander.

(2) Let those whose lot it is, to be slandered and falsely accused—

[1] Labor to make a sanctified use of it. When Shimei railed on David, David made a sanctified use of it. So, if you are slandered, or falsely accused, make a good use of it. See if you have no sin unrepented of, for which God may allow you to be calumniated and reproached. See if you have not at any time wronged others in their name, and said things about them, which you cannot prove; then lay your hand on your mouth, and confess the Lord is righteous to let you fall under the scourge of the tongue!

[2] If you are slandered, or falsely accused—but know your own innocence, be not too much troubled; let your rejoicing be the witness of your conscience. “Let this be a bulwark, to know oneself guiltless.” A good conscience is a wall of brass, that will be able to stand against a false witness. As no flattery can heal a bad conscience, so no slander can hurt a good one. God will clear up the names of his people. “He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light.” Psalm 37:6. As he will wipe away tears from the eyes, so will he wipe off reproaches from the name. Believers shall come forth out of all their slanders and reproaches, as “the wings of a dove, covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.”

(3) Be very thankful to God, if he has preserved you from slander and false witness. Job calls it “the scourge of the tongue;” chap 5:21. As a rod scourges the back, so the slanderer’s tongue scourges the name. It is a great mercy to be kept from the scourge of a tongue; a mercy that God stops malignant mouths from bearing false witness. What mischief might not a lying report or a false oath do! One destroys the name, the other the life. It is the Lord who muzzles the mouths of the wicked, and keeps those dogs which snarl at us—from flying upon us! “You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion, from the strife of tongues.” Psalm 31:20. There is, I suppose, an allusion to kings, who being resolved to protect their favorites against the accusation of men, take them into their bed-chamber, or bosom, where none may touch them. So God has a pavilion, or secret hiding-place for his favorites, where he preserves their credit and reputation untouched; he keeps them from the “strife of tongues.” We ought to acknowledge this to be a great mercy before God.

II. The mandatory part of the commandment implied, is that we stand up for others and vindicate them, when they are injured by lying lips. This is the sense of the commandment, not only that we should not slander falsely or accuse others; but that we should stand up in their defense, when we know them to be traduced. A man may wrong another as well by silence as by slander, when he knows him to be wrongfully accused—yet does not speak in his behalf. If others cast false aspersions on any, we should wipe them off. When the apostles were filled with the wine of the Spirit, and were charged with drunkenness, Peter openly maintained their innocence. “These are not drunken, as you suppose.” Acts 2:15. Jonathan knowing David to be a worthy man, and all those things Saul said of him to be slanders, vindicated him. “He’s never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!” 1 Sam 19:4, 5. When the primitive Christians were falsely accused for incest, and killing their children, Tertullian wrote a famous apology in their vindication. This is to act the part both of a friend and of a Christian, to be an advocate for another, when he is wronged in his good name.

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? –Jeremiah 5:30-31, KJV

As could be agreed upon by most believers, Christians have the right, even the duty, to evaluate and hold accountable to Holy Scripture those who profess the evangelical faith but who, for reason of their manifest beliefs and behaviors, appear to be departing from the faith.[1] Jude told his readers to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). To shirk this responsibility means that believers are being disobedient to the faith once for all delivered. To all Christians, the Spirit gives His anointing which places upon them the responsibility to discern the “spirit of truth” from the “spirit of error” (1 John 4:6; 1 John 2:20-21; 1 John 2:27). To the congregation at Rome Paul wrote:

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. –Romans 16:17-18 (Compare Philippians 3:17-19.)

This same apostle also warned the elders at Ephesus:

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. –Acts 20:29-31

Thus, in fidelity to the apostolic injunctions, in open forums around the blogosphere, various websites attempt to differentiate truth from error. They do so because mainstream Christian publishers and churches—not wanting to become overly controversial and therefore risk the loss of membership and/or sales revenue—ignore issues that those in discernment ministry, for the sake of the integrity of God’s truth as revealed in Holy Scripture, raise. In past generations, evangelicals exposed and faced down the errors presented by Christian-like cults without, but now-a-days, for whatever reason, seem quite unwilling to expose equally destructive heresies within the movement itself. As John McArthur noted eighteen years ago, an undiscerning spirit amongst evangelicals has bred and is breeding “reckless faith.”[2]

On one occasion, an opponent of discernment ministry questioned the spirit in which discernment ministry is conducted; specifically, that because some writings are critical they are therefore unloving. In syllogistic fashion, this perception might be stated as follows:

Christians are to love other Christians. Discerning Christians appear not to love other Christians. Therefore, discerning Christians and discernment are un-Christian.

Such criticism ought to be taken seriously, especially in light of 1 John 4:20-21 which says:

If someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. –1 John 4:20-21

But the risk of being unloving ought not deter believers from exposing error in the context of contending for the truth. As Paul ordered, every believer ought to speak “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). The problem within pan-evangelicalism today is that the movement weighs too heavy on the scale of love and too “lite” on the scale of truth. Nevertheless, with the anticipation that all will not agree, discernment ministry needs to contend for the faith without being contentious. But in the face of having lost the biblical and theological argument, discerners must recognize they might be subjected to the ad hominem attack of being called ”unloving.”

But interestingly, the apostle’s admonition to speak the truth in love follows on the heels of his stating his hope that the Ephesians would have matured to the point where they would no longer be “children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14). Thus, one evidence of spiritual maturity involves the ability to differentiate spiritual truth—those beliefs and behaviors which accord with Holy Scripture—from spiritual error—those which do not agree with Holy Scripture. It is therefore understood that discernment must pursue the truth; but coordinately, must do so in a spirit of love. At times, and given the fleshly nature that remains in every Christian (none of us is perfect), this can become a difficult balance to keep.

Yet on this point of the accusation of being unloving, the critics of discernment, if the issue has been researched and documented, usually do not accuse discernment authors of being untruthful; that is, that they lie. This of course, raises a consequent issue: can speaking of truth offend some persons to the degree that it creates in them an emotional impression that those who speak the truth do not love them?

On this point, we ought to remember that Proverbs inform us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6, NASB). We might also remember the instance when Jehoshaphat inquired of the king of Israel about where he could find a prophet of the Lord to make inquiry to. So the king of Israel informed Jehoshaphat: “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil” (1 Kings 22:8). On another occasion Ahab addressed Elijah: “Have you found me, O my enemy?” (1 Kings 21:20). It is evident that the kings perceived the messages of these prophets, Micaiah and Elijah, to be unloving. Of the latter’s encounter with Ahab, Anglican pastor J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) noted something that is as relevant today as it was in his day. He observed:

Alas, there are many like Ahab in the nineteenth century! They like a ministry which does not make them uncomfortable, and send them home ill at ease. How is it with you? Oh, believe me, he is the best friend who tells you the most truth![3]

Granted, the New Testament informs Christians of their responsibility to be loving (John 17:23; 2 Timothy 2:14-16; James 4:11; 1 Peter 1:22; 4:7-8; 1 John 2:9; 1 John 2:11; 1 John 4:20-21; Jude 18-21). Agreed—we are to love genuine brothers and sisters in the Christian faith. But like Jesus, we are forced to ask, especially in the days of apostasy in which we live, “Who are our brothers?” (See Matthew 12:48.) Any definition of brotherhood must rest upon NT passages that define brotherhood to include those individuals who evidence submission and fidelity to the beliefs and behavior established by Holy Scripture, who together manifest that we’re members of the born-from-above family of God (John 3:3; John 3:7). In Christendom, there are professors and possessors, for Paul wrote that, “they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” (Romans 9:6). Ultimately, Jesus will separate the wheat from the tares (Matthew 13:36-43). That is why the ministry of discerners ought to be discernment, not judgment. In the end, the Lord Jesus will judge (See John 5:26-30).

Nevertheless, we need to look at 1 John to see if it confirms the assumption that division and differences are invariably wrong, that discernment hinders the greater Christian community from aggregating itself into a single polymorphous “Kumbaya.”

We note John wrote his first letter to a hurting church that false teachers/antichrists devastated with their false doctrines. False teachers—professed Christians who, for reason of having subtly introduced destructive and divisive heresies into the body of Christ, revealed they were not Christian—had devastated the church to which John was writing at that time and place. (By the way, where’s the “love” on the part of false teachers?) The naive sheep did not know what had hit them, what had ruined the loving fellowship they had once enjoyed. Wolves in sheep’s clothing are very unloving and destructive. The biblical metaphor implies they’re the natural born killers of the sheep. So John informed the remaining believers: “They [i.e., the false teachers and their followers] went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19). Discernment ministry is necessary to expose unbiblical beliefs and behaviors because they destroy the blessed fellowship enjoyed by His beloved. Discernment is necessary to expose those who, often contrary to their claim to be otherwise, are not “of us.” We note the division in the fellowship was instigated by those pretending to be Christians but were not. So John added: “These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you” (1 John 2:26).

As in the politics of a free society, all of us have a right to state our take on the condition of Christianity today. It is the believer’s responsibility to state not only what’s right with the church, but also what’s wrong. Believers have the God-given right, if not duty, in Scripture to express biblically informed opinions. Let the views play out in the marketplace of ideas, and may God’s truth win out in the hearts and minds of blog readers. Yet amidst it all, Jesus’ warning ought to be heeded:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. –Matthew 7:15-23, KJV

Jesus’ words serve as a solemn warning to all who profess to know Him, including any and all in discernment ministry. Paul tells us: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Again, the apostle instructs believers to “examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22; See Ephesians 5:11.). Yet again, he states:

If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. –1 Timothy 6:3-5

In light of these scriptural admonitions—and others abundantly extant in both testaments—Dr. Harry Ironside (1876-1951) observed:

Of late, the hue and cry has been against any and all negative teaching. But the brethren who assume this attitude forget that a large part of the New Testament, both of the teaching of our blessed Lord Himself and the writings of the apostles, is made up of this very character of ministry…[4]

He then went on to state:

Error is like leaven of which we read, ‘A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.’ Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died.[5]

Genuine Christian love “does not,” indeed cannot, “rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Meanwhile, as the apostasy of this current evil age unfolds and plays out, all of us ought to heed Jesus’ question:

Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? – Luke 18:8

______________________ ENDNOTES [1] We ought to remember that through two-thousand years of history, Christian churches, even the Roman Catholic, have declared certain beliefs to be incompatible with the Christian faith. Thus, discernment ministry has had a long history in the church. Discerners are not “the odd group out,” but rather find precedent for their ministry within the Protestant Reformation itself, for the key word in protestant is “protest”! [2] John F. MacArthur, Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern (Wheaton, Il: Crossway Books, 1994). [3] J.C. Ryle, “Unsearchable Riches,” Holiness (Durham, England: Evangelical Press, 1879): 281. [4] Dr. Harry Ironside (1876-1951) was a Bible teacher and author who for eighteen years served as pastor of Chicago’s Moody Memorial Church (1930-1948). [5] Ibid.

And keep on naming names, refusing to compromise the never changing and only truth there is word of God, no matter what! Many will call us names, but the One who counts calls us His, and THAT my dears is all that matters. ❤

“Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? – Luke 18:8”

"One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple." Psalm 27:4

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. –Matthew 7:15-23, KJV”

“If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. –1 Timothy 6:3-5”

If I have in any way violated a copyright or not given appropriate credit to an author please forgive me. It was done innocently and in ignorance. Contact me if there is a problem and I will be glad to remove or edit it as desired.